Tagebuch

20 JULY 2014

Beth Ha Galgalil / Akko:

After having breakfast we had a discussion about the connection of religion to the conflict in Israel. As it is known Israel is a sacred place for all three religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Each religion is trying to control the land by his own. For some it was hard to talk about it because they felt they don’t have enough information about it. Some were against the idea and they said that the conflict is not about religion but about power, controlling land, politics and economy. Afterwards the big group was divided into the small family groups to discuss and share about the role of religion in each participant’s life. Each group discussed it privately as for our group (Desmond Tutu) the talk was very interesting and inspiring. Every member of our group had enough space to share his own believes and at the end we came to the conclusion that we all believe in an almighty power that religion represent different ways to praise it and they all complete each other and do not oppose. Furthermore religion itself doesn’t cause conflicts but some people use it to achieve personal agendas which causes conflicts between human beings. Through the discussion an interesting idea was arouse: the idea of leaving religion aside and each individual takes responsibility to create his own faith. After that we were divided into country groups and shared the thoughts and ideas we talked about in the different family groups. Then we shared the conclusions with the big group.

After lunch the kitchen group cleaned and were helped by other participants. We then got a chance to travel by foot to the beach in Akko. It was a long walk. When we arrived at the beach we settled down and most people got a chance to swim while others relaxed on the beach. The water was cool. Others remained behind at the house and took care of the ones that were not feeling well. The walk back was also long and most people rushed in order to shower and pack before we could leave back to the Bustan(back home). Some used the hose pipe outside. It was also a time to have a snack while waiting for others to get ready. The place was put back in order. Tables, chairs, eating utensils. The bus was then packed and the trip back ‘home’ began.

On the bus we were singing, enjoying Israel’s landscape, sleeping or talking. While we arrived again at the garden and unpacking the stuff from the bus it felt like coming home. Which might seem strange because we were sleeping in a house the days before and now came back to live under the wide sky. But it already feels like the place where we belong as the rainbow family in Israel.

While some people were playing cards, the kitchen group started to prepare dinner. We were happy to get food, even though the South-Africans had to except that we were returning to vegetarian food again. As the evening program Rolf invited Ido, Amiram’s nephew, who works as a psychologist and group therapist, to talk about our emotions. Starting with talking about missing our mums and their worries about us, we came to more difficult topics like racism and the current situations in the different home countries. Since we share peaceful life here it is hard to understand why it is so difficult to take steps towards one another in our daily life. One of our conclusions was that people participating in the rainbow project use to be quite open-minded. Our experience makes this ability grow. So when we will be returning home we can take that with us to see things from a different point of view. Since it was Ido’s birthday we finished our session with singing “Happy Birthday” in five different languages. The evening went on with chilling, playing cards, listening and dancing to music and talks until we fell asleep under our “home tree”.

All in all, it was a great learning experience and adventure. Learning about the ‘other’ person and what motivates and influences them in an intimate and safe environment was worthwhile. Experiences like these are needed to remind each one of us of the real world that continues just outside our rainbow family of peace. We continue to be united for peace in Isreal.